Review: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE A Warm Hearted Comedic Winner

What do you get when you cross Christopher Durang, the master of anxious comedy, with Anton Chekhov, the master of Russian despair? You get VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, an evening of melancholia and mirth. While Durang starts with Chekhov he soon runs off in every direction. Chekhov and Walt Disney? California Suite and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? Why not? He ends up delivering a warmhearted, surprisingly personable play that is a mixture of clever and sweet that's hard to pull off. The production now on stage at The Wimberley Playhouse pulls it off beautifully. Chekhov's characters are full of angst and dissatisfaction, and so are Durang's. The key difference is that while tragic Chekhov can be funny, Durang is pretty much flat out bonkers.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is a comedy by Christopher Durang. It premiered at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey in 2012, followed by an Off-Broadway production later the same year. It transferred to Broadway in 2013, winning the Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, among other awards. VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is a comedic adaptation of some of Chekhov's themes but doesn't require any familiarity with Chekhov to be enjoyed. Some of the elements derived from works of Anton Chekhov including the characters names, the cherry orchard the play is set in, and the possible loss of an ancestral home.

The story revolves around three middle-aged single siblings, two of whom live together, and takes place during a visit by the third, Masha, who supports them. While they argue and discuss their lives and loves, Masha threatens to sell the house.

Middle-aged siblings Vanya (David Bisett) and Sonia (Laura Haygood) are living in the family home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Named after Chekhov characters by their theater-enthusiast professor parents, Vanya and Sonia never had to grow up. They've spent their adulthood looking after their now deceased parents. They don't have jobs, and their money is provided by their B movie star sister Masha (Mary Jane Windle), who actually owns the houses. Vanya is gay and Sonia was adopted. They spend their times reflecting on lost chances, debating whether nine cherry trees are enough to constitute an orchard, and just generally bemoaning their rather Chekhovian lot in life. Their cleaning woman Cassandra (Celeste Coburn),makes dire prophecies that no one pays much attention to. When Masha returns home in a whirl of drama and insecurity, with her considerably younger and dimwitted lover Spike (Rob Huey), resentments come to the surface. Add in the neighbor's niece Nina (Kaila Brinckmann), an aspiring actress and the stage is set for envy, lust and sympathy.

Director Tracy Arnold does a great job with Durang's irreverent comedy about change and insecurities. Arnold keeps the punch lines connecting as she moves the action across set designer Carroll Dolezal's beautifully realized country house, with its evident countryside and trees surrounding. The laughs aren't forced, and performances grounded in reality make this a comedic winner.

Susan Blankenship has done a great job with the costumes and the work of Pennye Graves as Set Decorator makes the many small touches that make the remarkable set look lovingly inhabited.

Laura Haygood is great as the adopted loveless Sonia, especially once the group begins assembling for what turns out to be a disaster of a costume party. David Bisett displays a soft-edged resignation as Vanya. He is absolutely masterful with his soliloquy that touches on multiple issues in today's society that many want to say out loud but are too afraid. He rails against too much social media in this touching homage to the 50s; covering such topics as nostalgia for the days of yesteryear, the simpler comedy of "I Love Lucy" and "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", the times when we actually had to dial a telephone, the days before hundreds of cable channels of worthless entertainment so that no one even has shared entertainment experiences any more. He talks of Disney child star Tommy Kirk who was fired for being gay. This moment alone is absolutely brilliant.

Mary Jane Windle does a nice job showing the transition of Masha, going smoothly and believably from depressed and self obsessed to her realization that she needs more out of life than a cheating boy toy.

Rob Huey, as Spike the actor, is hilarious. Both Spike and Huey are completely comfortable in their own skin, which is a good thing since he spends considerable time in just his underwear. He does a terrific job exuding a sexy flirtatiousness that emanates across the stage no matter which character he is interacting with.

Celeste Coburn delivers a nice turn as professed psychic and housekeeper Cassandra. She has great timing and one psychic rant of a monologue she delivers is a stream of consciousness comedy gem. Kaila Brinckmann as Nina is the picture of innocent intentions considering the character is an intolerable suck-up. Her sweetness and charm infuse the character with a great likeability.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is Durang's comedic character exploration of what happens when you get so caught up in yourself that you fail to notice that family and friends you can trust is what is really important. Full of hilarious characters and themes, VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is an evening of theatre that entertains, amuses and leaves you thinking.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE by Christopher Durang

Running time: Two Hours and Thirty Minutes including Intermission

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, produced by The Wimberley Players (450 Old Kyle Road, Wimberley, TX). Performances run through December 04, 2016.

Fri & Sat curtain at 7:30 PM

Sunday matinees at 2:30 PM

Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.WimberleyPlayers.org

or

call (512) 847-0575 and leave a message for assistance. The Box Office is open only before performance weekends on Wed, Thurs, & Fri from 2 - 5 PM.

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